Semiramis Reborn

by Maya Daniels

  Azalea’s words came back to me. ‘Close your heart if you want to touch a lantern.’ I reach within me to make sure my black hole is still in my chest. I force whatever emotions I may be feeling back into it as much as possible and take a deep breath, not resisting the green light and its tentacles. It feels like there are two of me in my head, one nice wimpy Alexia all mushy with her feelings and one cold, calculating Alexia that cares about nothing but getting what she wants. I feel the mushy me get shoved to the background and the cold me stretch out fully in my skin. When I focus on my surroundings again, I look straight into Lucifer’s eyes because he is standing right in front of me.

  “Oh, fuck!” he breaths.

  “Well, if you’re a good little angel, you may get your wish later,” I purr, winking at him, and to my horror, I lean towards him and lick his face slowly from his Adam’s apple to the tip of his nose and I feel him shudder under my palms, resting on his chest and still holding the lantern.

  What the fuck is wrong with me? He takes a deep breath as if to collect himself, grabs both my wrists in his huge hands and pushes me back, his eyes still closed. He holds me in place, taking a few more breaths like he is praying. I giggle. Now I want to slap myself, but I have obviously no control of what I’m doing thanks to those damn tentacles. He looks at me, shakes his head and releasing my wrists, turns me towards the exit.

  “Let us go, witch, and save the others.” With a heavy sigh, he pushes me gently to start moving and mumbles behind me, “You’ll be the death of me.”

  “And you’ll beg for more,” I say over my shoulder before I start walking and the nice me inside my head wants to hang herself from embarrassment. Lucifer chuckles.

  “Of that, witch, I have no doubt whatsoever.”

  Thankfully I keep my mouth shut, even if I wish for the mountain to open and swallow me whole, and we head out of the temple to go find the caves that hold my sisters imprisoned.

  12

  Thankfully we don’t have to walk down the mountain, because as we step out of the temple, huge wings sprout out from Lucifer’s back and his arms circle my waist, the warmth of his body penetrating my skin and causing heat to pool in the pit of my stomach. Before I even have a chance to enjoy the flight, my feet touch the dirt path separating the mountain from the orchard with the silver apple trees. The wings are gone in an instant, and without a word, he turns around and starts walking left, so I follow. I’m disappointed that the flight didn’t last longer. I want to believe it’s because flying made me feel free in a way nothing else ever had before. It felt like the chains holding me tethered to my world and my reality were somehow broken and I felt lighter, almost like the wind swirling around trees. Even inside the ribcage, my tormented heart felt lighter, somehow. That’s what I want to believe caused my disappointment, not that I missed the warmth of his body pressed against mine or the feeling of safety I got from his arms around me. They all have agendas, I remind myself sternly. I better remember that. The cold calculating bitch that is me in this moment makes sure I’m reminded of Lucifer’s body pressed against me instead of anything else, so I grind my teeth and keep walking, looking at the dirt on the path and doing my best to empty my mind, but it’s not working.

  “Do you even know where we are going?” My words sound harsh, but I’d rather talk than think right now.

  “I feel the darkness concentrated in this direction. I guess it’s where they must be. If you have a better idea, do share it, Alexia,” he says over his shoulder.

  I hate the fact that I like how he says my name, so like a two-year-old, I snap at him for no reason whatsoever.

  “Whatever! I like it better when you call me ‘witch.’”

  “Is that so?” He looks back at me with one perfectly raised eyebrow, and I want to slap him.

  I open my mouth to reply, but I snap it shut when I hear rustling sounds followed by a gentle hoot from the trees. Looking around, trying hard not to pay attention to the pull of the silver apples, I see what made the sound and a smile blooms on my face. I’d forgotten all about him. Still smiling, I stop turning towards the tree and look up at the branches waving gently in the nonexistent wind.

  “It’s so good to see you, Rajah. I finally have the lantern,” I tell the owl, lifting the lantern towards him so he can see it.

  “You know the bird?” Lucifer asks, and I can hear it in his voice. He is trying not to laugh.

  I ignore him, still looking at the owl. Azalea said after I get a lantern, he will lead the way to the caves and I trust that more than I do Lucifer following the pull of darkness to wherever. I don’t take my eyes off Rajah and just wait. It feels like he is assessing me, so I stand still and don’t fight it when I feel a gentle push to my mind. I have nothing to hide from the creature, so I open my mind and wait. Let him prod in it as much as he likes.

  “You have finally lost your mind, witch.”

  Lucifer’s words come at the same time when the owl hoots again and takes flight. I was getting ready to follow the direction he takes, but he circles around us and in a flash he lands on my shoulder, taking a good grip on it with his talons. I gasp because I didn’t expect it, and as if placating me, Rajah bumps his head on my temple. Not turning my face towards him, in case he decides to poke my eyes out, I look at him sideways. I wonder what he’s doing. It’s not like he can speak and tell me where to go. I need him to fly so I can follow.

  “I have no idea which way to go, my friend. You’ll need to lead me, not sit on my shoulder.”

  I’m talking softly, trying not to spook him when he’s so close to my face. Besides, those talons feel sharp as knives. I feel Lucifer coming closer, but I ignore him. He can get over himself and his smartass remarks. Rajah turns his head in that creepy way like it’s not attached to the rest of his body, as if looking for something or someone. He does that a couple of times, hoots softly again and takes flight, leading us back from where we came from.

  I look pointedly at Lucifer, making sure my eyes tell him that his pull and direction sucks. I then lift my chin as if I’m the Queen of England and turn around to follow Rajah. It’s up to the angel to do what he wants from now on. I speed up my steps. It feels like Rajah doesn’t understand the difficulty of having legs, because I have to start jogging to make sure I don’t lose sight of him. After a few moments I feel Lucifer’s energy at my back. I guess he decided to follow, too, instead of going where he thought we would find the caves. I smirk and pull my hood over my head so he doesn’t see my face. Small victories, but oh, how sweet they are. I know it’s pitiful, but I can’t help myself. I want nothing more than to frustrate the angel. It’s almost like a compulsion.

  “How do you know the bird?” His voice caresses my ears and a shiver runs up my spine.

  “He is Azalea’s.”

  Lucifer stops dead in his tracks at my words, but I offer no further explanation. I keep jogging as quietly as I can, looking up at the dark shape of the owl leading the way. After a second, Lucifer moves to catch up but doesn’t say another word. I wish I could see his face, but the damn hood is obstructing my view. I was concentrating on him so hard that I didn’t see the protruding rock on the ground. My bare foot lands right on top of it, my ankle twists, and I start falling sideways towards the orchard trees. Trying very hard not to scream and announce our presence, I bite my lip and reach out one arm to grab onto Lucifer so that I don’t end up on the ground.

  He’s fast, you have to give him that. My hand grabs hold of empty air but his arms wrap around me, one around my shoulders and the other around my waist, like steel clamps, and my body is now plastered to his chest with my feet dangling in the air. The hood of my cloak fell from my head with the jerk that saved me from a few bruises, but that only made sure I was staring into the angel’s eyes, because we’re nose to nose now. I’m still biting hard on my lower lip and his eyes zero in on my mouth, almost as if he is compelled to look, just like I was earlier when I saw the golden glow around him. We stand suspended in time
and space for a few moments, our hearts beating in sync, and I wonder what is going on in his head. Something’s different, he’s changed, in some strange way. Previously there was amusement, like I was a lab rat or something, but now it’s a totally different emotion that I can’t place. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said it’s desire. For me! Then I remind myself this is Lucifer. I have no idea what’s wrong with me to even think that. It must be the damn lantern. The disturbing thing is still clutched in my hand. Obviously after you take one, there is no way of releasing it.

  “You can put me down now, thank you,” I tell him softly.

  “Right! I should put you down,” he murmurs like he is giving himself advice and my eyebrows go up to my hairline.

  “You okay there, angel?”

  He drops me so suddenly, stepping away from me like I’ve burned him, that I stumble a step or two back as well.

  “Geez! What the fuck is wrong with you? I don’t bite!” I snap, then I smirk at him, adding, “Not too hard, anyway.”

  He shakes his head, exhaling loudly, and starts walking. I look up to see if we lost Rajah, but to my utmost relief, I see him circling above us. At least he’s nice enough to wait while the angel and I have an awkward staring match. Shaking my head to clear my mind, I follow Lucifer and I see Rajah taking flight, leading the way again. I can’t wait to find my sisters and get the hell out of here. This realm is messing with my head, right after it stabbed me in the heart and the back, depending how you want to look at it. Nothing else is said, and our trip to the caves is uneventful. I’m very grateful for that.

  By the looks of things, this dark realm is full of dead rocks and hills, with no vegetation at all on one side and the never-ending orchard on the other. If Rajah were not leading the way, I might have thought we were walking in place, like we were on a treadmill. It makes me wonder about the knee-high grass in the clearing between the orchard and the woods where they captured Faith. How did it grow there and why, when everything else is all dead rocks and dirt? You can’t call it soil. Soil has potential for growth, for life. This dirt is lifeless, like a discarded seashell after the animal is gone from it, empty of life. Maybe Azalea’s realm being so close spills over and gives this one life? If that’s the case, it means that every time we open a portal, something from that realm spills over to our world. Now that’s a scary thought that makes me remember that Meda opened a portal to Enlil’s realm, twice, and he somehow did it as well, so he could come to ours who knows how many times. I shiver at the thought just before I bump into a solid wall of muscle in front of me. I would’ve gone down on my ass if he hadn’t snaked his arm behind his back and grabbed me. This is getting old. I huff a breath and push his arm away.

  “Get your fucking hand off me,” I snap.

  “Quiet, witch!” he hisses, and I stop breathing.

  Peering around him, I see we’re at a bend in the path, and right in front of us is the eerie green glow of the lanterns where the entrance of the caves is. It’s another mountain like the one where the temple is, only not as high. There are a few of the monsters scattered above the cave, looking like they are guarding it. I count five from where I’m standing.

  “Five guards,” I tell Lucifer like he is blind and not looking at the same thing I am.

  “Seven.”

  “What? Where?”

  “Two more, at each side of the entrance not holding lanterns,” he says slowly like I’m slow.

  “You don’t have to be an ass,” I hiss at him.

  “No, I do not, but it is so much fun.” He grins at me.

  “Whatever, angel, let’s go. They see my lantern as well, I’m sure. They’ll wonder why I’m standing still.”

  I start walking but I slow my steps. I remember the way they walked the first time I saw them, so, recalling the thumping of their feet, I try to mimic the tempo. I’m holding the sides of the cloak tight around me in case my white dress decides to make an appearance, waving around like a flag of surrender in their face. My palms vibrate at the thought of burning those things to ashes or drowning them where they stand.

  “What is wrong with you? Why are you walking like that, witch?”

  “That’s how they walked when I saw them thumping their feet. I’m trying to act like we are no different,” I point out.

  He says nothing for too long that I chance a glance at him and get angry the same second.

  “Are you laughing at me?” I hiss at him.

  “No, witch, I would not dare do such a thing.” His voice is strained and he snorts at the end, obviously not able to hold it in any longer. I believe steam is coming out of my ears at this point.

  It was bad timing, or else I would’ve thrown a ball of fire in his perfect face, but looking at where we are, I have to stew in my anger until we get out of here. I decide to ignore him and continue towards the cave, stomping and all. As we get near it, out of nowhere Rajah swoops down on one of the guards that is standing above the cave. I watch in horror, thinking the owl tricked us and is giving us away. I almost scream in frustration when I hear a disturbing screech from the cloaked monster that swats his skeletal arms towards the owl sending sparks of lime green fire towards it. My breath catches in my throat but the flames miss Rajah by a hair and he circles above us as if nothing happened.

  “Great. He just told them we are here,” I whisper-yell at Lucifer. “Why can’t one thing go right, for fuck’s sake?”

  As I’m finishing my rant, Rajah does it again with the same result. I swear it’s like he’s doing it on purpose to give me a heart attack. Lucifer is saying something, but I don’t hear it because I have a whooshing sound in my ears from how angry I am. He repeats it again.

  “Huh? What did you say?” I ask him to repeat it for the third time.

  “I said, he is giving us cover, witch. We can’t kill them all at once. Some will make noise, obviously.” He says with an exasperated sigh.

  “Right!” I mumble, embarrassed.

  Of course he is covering our asses. I need to stop fighting the cold me and let her do what she needs to do because, obviously, I suck at doing anything right and mushy me might start crying. We are almost in the cave now.

  “I’ll get the two at the entrance, you start picking the ones above it. You know what you are doing, so just focus like we trained,” Lucifer whispers.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  There is a narrow path to the right of the cave entrance, so I head that way, not looking at Lucifer. I know he’ll be fine, although I’m not sure I will be. I release my grip on the tendrils of the lantern and let it penetrate my energy and attach itself like a leech. My body shudders involuntarily. As soon as I stop fighting it, the coldness seeps in and the cold calculating me relishes it. This is power. I hear my thoughts and it makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t want power, I just want peace. I have no time to dwell on it because I’m coming within arm’s reach of monster number one. Luckily, my brain works fast enough to let me know I should send a fireball first to the one above us first so he doesn’t have time to react and second to this one in front of me, or even simultaneously. So, I build the fire in my palm and hurl it at the one standing above us. He screeches loud enough to bust my eardrums and the one in front of me, instead of looking at me, turns around and looks up to see his buddy in flames crumbling to the ground. It gives me enough time to gather another ball and as he turns to look at me I throw it right inside the hood of his cloak. He doesn’t even have time to release any sound before all that is in front of me turns into beautiful orange, yellow, and red flames. I need to find the other three because I’m sure by now they see that the fire is not green. They’ll call for help and we’ll be screwed. I start sprinting up the path to find them when out of nowhere all three appear up above me and someone tackles me, thankfully, because green flames barely miss me. I scramble around trying to get up so I can fight, but Lucifer presses his body more firmly on top of me, not letting me move a muscle. I buck my hips under him to dis
lodge him with no luck.

  “Stop moving and be quiet,” he hisses in my ear and I quit my thrashing.

  I raise my eyes up to where I saw the three cloaks earlier and I see them turning left and right, looking for us. They can’t see that we’re sprawled on the ground, just a few feet away from them. I’m on my stomach and Lucifer is putting all his weight on top of me, grinding my hipbones into the dirt. I can only take fast, shallow breaths through my nose so I don’t end up eating dirt. As we wait, barely breathing, we see two creatures separate and start looking for us, while the third one starts hurrying down towards the entrance, to call for help, I’m sure. We have to stop him. I push my hips up to get Lucifer off me so I can burn the monster before he calls for help, but instead of him rolling off, the asshole gets hard and I feel his erection pressing on my ass. What the fuck is wrong with men, angels, gods or humans alike?

  “Get that thing out of my ass, angel, and stop the asshole before he gets help,” I whisper-yell at him.

  He doesn’t move but flicks his wrist and the monster running down bursts into dust. It’s comical to see, like in the old movies when they stake a vampire and it turns instantly to dust. I’m impressed with the power he has for all of two seconds when the reality hits me like a freight train. I start thrashing again under him, saying, “Get off me, get off me,” through clenched teeth and he finally rolls off of me. I whirl on him, forgetting about the other two creatures that are looking for us.

  “You fucking asshole! You could’ve killed them all in less than a minute all on your own. There was no need for you to get on top of me.”

  “Is that a ‘thank you’ for saving you, witch? Why, you’re very welcome, Alexia, do not mention it,” he mocks, but I see he is angry.